Problem with natural dog food? Please get the word out

geigerr · 04-30-2008, 02:48 PM

I and my girlfriend own a 1 1/2 year old half Maltese poodle mix. We have been feeding him Wellness Core nature dog food for the last few months. He started to get anal leakage and needed to have the vet discharge his glands. Four weeks later it seems like he might need to get his glands discharged again.

I have come up with the conclusion that it is his dog food. So I began to look into wellness core dog food. I am full time student and couple years away from getting my PhD in bioanalytical chemistry. I have a good knowledge on how chemicals reactions in and outside the human body. Once I read the label of wellness core dog food, I realized right off the bat that this dog food is not fully natural. So I began to give a big search into natural dog food and realized that majority of the food I look into was not fully natural. I know that the big craze of natural and organic dog food began when "commercial" dog food was killing many dogs at young ages.

To prove my point that core is not fully natural let’s look into the ingredients

Deboned Turkey, Deboned Chicken, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Potatoes, Dried Ground Potato, Tomato Pomace, Natural Chicken Flavor, Canola Oil, Chicken Liver, Salmon Oil, Flaxseed, Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Kale, Broccoli, Spinach, Parsley, Apples, Blueberries, Vitamins & Minerals, Chicory Root Extract, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondroitin Sulfate, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Products, Rosemary Extract

Big concerns are Vitamins & Minerals, Chicory Root Extract, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondroitin Sulfate, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Products, Rosemary Extract.

All these ingredients are said that they "may" help with digest of the food or "may" give the dog a healthier life. Is just me or is this food not natural?

Glucosamine Hydrochloride is a sugar that is produced by the fermentation of corn or wheat grains....however, I thought this is grain free food, but they use sugar made from the fermentation of grains?

Chondroitin Sulfate is chemical supplement used with Glucosamine Hydrochloride to treat degenerative arthritis (degenerative joint disease)

Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus casei, and Lactobacillus acidophilus are micro-bacteria that “should” help with digest. Normally, you don’t fix things that are not broken. If dogs were meant to have this type of bacteria in its digestion system it would have it.

Chicory Root Extract and Yucca Schidigera Extract are used to give energy or excitement to animals. Very similar to what guarana does for people. Wellness says it is added to help with digestion and aid the production of insulin. What if your dog doesn’t need help with his insulin level?

Rosemary Extract is adding to give favor and aroma to the dog food. If this dog food is suppose to have natural favor why add “season” to the food?

It can be seen that many “natural” supplements are added to core dog food to “enhance” dog’s digestion and aid to a better life. Most of this “natural” supplements can be synthetically made and drop the cost of production. So is this food really natural? If it is 100% natural, does these “natural” additives really good for a dog?

A good example is herbs and supplements from GNC, most of the products are “natural” but is it really good for your body to have excess vitamins, mineral, insulin, ATP, creatine, and protein? No one knows if these supplements will do harm 20years or so down the road, but what if it does?

My reason to writing this thread is I am concerned that people hear that these natural dog foods are really good for their pet; however, is it? Have there been any clinical trials on these supplements. Is this the reason that my dog Ernie has anal leakage? I am just trying to spread the word. I also want to know has any else’s dog have anal leakage or digestion problems from Core dog food or any other natural pet food?

Please help

GreatDaneMom · 04-30-2008, 04:16 PM

i dont think its fair to pin your dogs problem on the food. have you had other tests done to see what could be wong? also, having to need the anal glands expressed is NOT i big deal. a lot of dogs, no matter what food they are fed, tend to need to have it done. its a common thing. all that is from is from poo not being solid enough to express them naturally, or the dog will lick and try to express them. why do you think dogs lick their butts?

Laurelin · 04-30-2008, 04:27 PM

Okay, this has been posted like... 5 times in different places on the forum.

Possibly some sort of agenda? i dunno I just find it odd someone would want to spam this everywhere.

TwoSweetBabies · 04-30-2008, 04:28 PM

Geigerr,
I agree with you that these so called natural foods are not all natural, but are you saying that you would prefer a basic kibble to hollistic kibbles? I'm very interested in this topic! Thanks for the post!
I'm currently switching my dogs from Canidae - Halo Spots Stew dry.
What do you plan on feeding now?

Laurelin,
I hope you are not referring to my post about whether dogs on hollistic dog food live longer. Im not saying you are referring to it at all, but if you are, I in now way mean to bash hollistic food, and feed it myself. I just think a lot of people, myself and obviously Geigerr, want to feel well informed of if they are really doing the best for their pet!
Thanks!

geigerr · 04-30-2008, 04:37 PM

I never blamed the dog food; I only put one and two together and wondered if anyone has heard or had the same problems. From being a scientist, I known that when chemicals enter the body a chemical reaction takes place. For instance, let’s use a no carb energy drink for instance. After you finish drinking the drink, the "natural" caffeine enters the blood stream after digestion. The molecule inhibits (blocks) an enzyme called ATPase (used to break down a molecule in the body called ATP). ATP is fuel for the human body. Since ATP can not be broken down there is a build up of this molecule. The energetic feeling you get is from the energy drink is the excess ATP in the body. Once there is no more guranna, the ATPase goes into over drive to break down all the excess ATP. This in-turn causes your metabolism to go in overdrive. From this your body loses proper control on digestion and produced anal leakage.

Just because it is sold in the store does not mean it good for you. I do think that it normal for my dog to need a Vet to drain his anal glands. He never had this problem until he starting using Core dog food. I am only trying to help. I just don’t believe dog food should have all these “natural” supplements in it.

Me and my Girlfriend are still talking about it. I want to cook him meals everyday. She says we dont have the time or money to do it. She wants me to look into other natural pet foods. The more and more I look into the pet food, I get more and more turned off by the food. I think in the end I will be cooking the meals.

I am trying to get this out bc this is my dog the love of my life. I dont want happening to him what happened to all the dogs that died a few years back. Would you want that?

GreatDaneMom · 04-30-2008, 05:40 PM

um, first you say youre not blaming the food, then you say it is the food. make up your mind. and ive never gotten anal leakage from an energy drink....
if your dog kibble doesnt contain supplements, youre going to have a problem. even if you home cook, you need supplements to balance the diet. and i dont understand what energy drinks have to do with dog food.

geigerr · 04-30-2008, 05:55 PM

Go out and drink a 32oz Rockstar in about 1hour. Tell me if you have anal leakage or not. The moral of this is that when you add abnormal chemicals to a human's body, reactions take place. These reactions may be good or bad, we don’t know. Another instance is steroids, back in 1970 it was legal and people believed that it would make them stronger and live a better life. 20 years later over half of people that took steroid have died of cancer and heart disease. Do you understand the relationship of supplements and that we don’t know what they will do a few years down the road. I only want you to be aware that abnormal supplements are being added to dog food that is being called nature because the supplements come from a leaf or a root. Also cocaine comes from a plant and in the early 1900's it was used for headaches. What happen to cocaine?